Why "Biblical Liberty"?
"The truth shall make you free" (John 8:32)
"...to set at liberty them that are bruised" (Luke 4:18)
The heart of the Bible's message is liberty. As Jesus made clear when he quoted the passage from Isaiah 61 in the synagogue in Nazareth, He came into the world as a liberator. The liberty he purchased at Calvary for all who repent of their sins and believe on Him for salvation is a spiritual liberty - freedom from the dominion of sin, and from eternal punishment in Hell.
However, as the preaching of the Christian Gospel began to impact the nations in the centuries following the death and resurrection of Jesus, it began to produce a more general liberty for the inhabitants of those nations. Guided by the Bible's teaching, Christian rulers, theologians and politicians - particularly in the period from 1550 to 1700 in the lands where the Reformation triumphed - developed models of government that, wherever they were put into practise, brought freedom and prosperity in their wake.
It was these principles that saw the Netherlands develop as a world power in the 17th Century, and which later brought such blessing to Britain and the USA. At their heart were limited, accountable government, the sacredness of one's vocation, the right of property ownership and free trade. Even after Christian political thought entered a period of decline after 1700, its legacy persisted in these lands for some 200 years.
Why did these blessings come to an end? The blame has to be laid at the door of socialism. While the socialist movement was started by men and women who had an undeniable and genuine concern for the poor, it ended up causing more problems than it solved. The Soviet Union, or to give it is full title, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, was one of the worst manifestations of socialism, and was particularly notorious for its opposition to Christianity - an opposition that has characterised many socialists from the earliest days of the movement.
However, socialism has left its ugly imprint on the "free" west too. Today, socialism (apart from a few dinosaurs in the Trade Union movement) has moved on from calling for public ownership of the means of production, but the big state, with its excessive borrowing and high taxes, along with the insidious influence of political correctness, are all part of its legacy. In Britain, Christians are not imprisoned in labour camps as they were in the USSR (and still are in North Korea), but the "soft tyranny" that seeks to erode free speech and which denies, for example, Christian bed and breakfast owners the right to run their businesses in their own homes in accordance with their beliefs, springs from the same poisonous source.
Meanwhile, the economic problems faced by many western governments in the last few years as a result of their excessive borrowing are leaving a legacy of debt that is not proving easy to pay off.
The big state has failed - it has destroyed our prosperity and threatens our liberty. The only solution is to go back to the Bible, and to use its infallible, inspired teaching to shrink the state down to perform its Biblically-mandated functions and nothing else. Christians need to work with all who are committed to cutting down the power and cost of the state to achieve this goal. In Britain, Christian pressure groups have done sterling work in opposing abortion and defending the Biblical concept of marriage. However, we need to go further if the onward march of tyranny is to be defeated. This website and blog will, I trust, provide a resource and an inspiration to all seeking to see the Bible again exercising its benign influence in the government of our land.
"...to set at liberty them that are bruised" (Luke 4:18)
The heart of the Bible's message is liberty. As Jesus made clear when he quoted the passage from Isaiah 61 in the synagogue in Nazareth, He came into the world as a liberator. The liberty he purchased at Calvary for all who repent of their sins and believe on Him for salvation is a spiritual liberty - freedom from the dominion of sin, and from eternal punishment in Hell.
However, as the preaching of the Christian Gospel began to impact the nations in the centuries following the death and resurrection of Jesus, it began to produce a more general liberty for the inhabitants of those nations. Guided by the Bible's teaching, Christian rulers, theologians and politicians - particularly in the period from 1550 to 1700 in the lands where the Reformation triumphed - developed models of government that, wherever they were put into practise, brought freedom and prosperity in their wake.
It was these principles that saw the Netherlands develop as a world power in the 17th Century, and which later brought such blessing to Britain and the USA. At their heart were limited, accountable government, the sacredness of one's vocation, the right of property ownership and free trade. Even after Christian political thought entered a period of decline after 1700, its legacy persisted in these lands for some 200 years.
Why did these blessings come to an end? The blame has to be laid at the door of socialism. While the socialist movement was started by men and women who had an undeniable and genuine concern for the poor, it ended up causing more problems than it solved. The Soviet Union, or to give it is full title, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, was one of the worst manifestations of socialism, and was particularly notorious for its opposition to Christianity - an opposition that has characterised many socialists from the earliest days of the movement.
However, socialism has left its ugly imprint on the "free" west too. Today, socialism (apart from a few dinosaurs in the Trade Union movement) has moved on from calling for public ownership of the means of production, but the big state, with its excessive borrowing and high taxes, along with the insidious influence of political correctness, are all part of its legacy. In Britain, Christians are not imprisoned in labour camps as they were in the USSR (and still are in North Korea), but the "soft tyranny" that seeks to erode free speech and which denies, for example, Christian bed and breakfast owners the right to run their businesses in their own homes in accordance with their beliefs, springs from the same poisonous source.
Meanwhile, the economic problems faced by many western governments in the last few years as a result of their excessive borrowing are leaving a legacy of debt that is not proving easy to pay off.
The big state has failed - it has destroyed our prosperity and threatens our liberty. The only solution is to go back to the Bible, and to use its infallible, inspired teaching to shrink the state down to perform its Biblically-mandated functions and nothing else. Christians need to work with all who are committed to cutting down the power and cost of the state to achieve this goal. In Britain, Christian pressure groups have done sterling work in opposing abortion and defending the Biblical concept of marriage. However, we need to go further if the onward march of tyranny is to be defeated. This website and blog will, I trust, provide a resource and an inspiration to all seeking to see the Bible again exercising its benign influence in the government of our land.